Sword of Truth
by Cat2000
Summary: Rewrite of original fic. A short time after Ken’s fall from being the Digimon Emperor and his reconciliation with Wormmon. Ken feels really guilty for all he’s done. When a girl seems to accept him for who he is, Ken starts to feel that perhaps he might b


**Sword of Truth**

**Chapter One**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything from Digimon, and I'm not making any money from this fic

**Summary:** Rewrite of original fic. A short time after Ken's fall from being the Digimon Emperor and his reconciliation with Wormmon. Ken feels really guilty for all he's done. When a girl seems to accept him for who he is, Ken starts to feel that perhaps he might be happy after all. But is the girl really all she seems? Will she save the former Kaiser, or draw him deeper into the darkness surrounding his soul?

**Warnings:** Original characters; possible ooc:ness; I apologise to all of those fans, but there isn't any Yolei/Ken pairing in this fic; darker themes, like torture (though not descriptive, and mostly only in flashbacks to the past), talk of suicide, and probable character death

* * *

_The Digimon Emperor stood in the middle of the room, watching the events unfolding on the screens in front of him, laughing a little. All of the work he had put into his plans would soon pay off. It had been incredibly easy to think up, though was taking time and effort to come to full fruition._

_The Kaiser didn't care that he was feeling tired. He hadn't been getting enough sleep lately, and it was beginning to show. He had been working hard on his plans, but he wasn't going to rest until the Digital World was completely under his control, and the other children were completely destroyed._

"_Ken, I really think you should rest," a voice came from behind the Digimon Emperor, sounding worried._

_The Digimon Emperor turned round to glare at the small, worthless digimon behind him. Wormmon. The weak, snivelling creature would never leave him alone, no matter how much he was beaten and abused by his master._

"_I have told you only to call me 'Master'!" the Digimon Emperor snapped at his slave. "And I don't _need_ to rest! And I certainly don't need a weak, worthless creature like _you_ telling me what to do!"_

"_I'm sorry, Master," Wormmon responded. "I'm just worried about you."_

"_If you don't get out of my sight, you'll be sorry," the Digimon Emperor warned. His grip tightened on the whip in his hand. The implied threat was very obvious._

_Wormmon looked scared, but he didn't back down. He was clearly determined to try and look after his master, even if he would be punished for it. "Master, I don't want you to get ill," the little digimon said._

"_What _you_ want is of no concern to me!" the Digimon Emperor snapped. He advanced on Wormmon, giving the digimon his full attention for once. Not in a good way, though. He struck at the little creature. Wormmon's submission to the beating did nothing more than fuel his anger._

* * *

Ken jerked upright in his bed, gasping a little. The images from his dream played over and over in his head, and he felt helpless to stop them. In any case, he deserved to feel guilty for all he had done. Nightmares and sleepless nights were the least he should suffer.

"Ken?" Minomon's sleepy voice broke through the boy's thoughts. "Is something the matter?"

"No, Minomon, I'm all right," Ken replied. "Did I wake you up? I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry," Minomon responded, concern apparent in his voice. "I was just worried about you."

Ken flinched. Minomon's words were almost exactly the same as Wormmon, his digimon's Rookie form, had spoken in his dream. He could clearly remember his own response to that, and it sickened him. It would always sicken him, and he was terrified that it would start all over again. He didn't want to surrender to the darkness threatening to engulf his soul, but he had no idea of how to hold it at bay.

"Ken, what's wrong?" Minomon wanted to know.

"Huh?" Ken blinked, tearing his thoughts away from his time as the Digimon Emperor, and looked down at Minomon. "I'm sorry, what did you say?"

"I asked you what was wrong," Minomon answered. "Why can't you sleep, Ken?"

"I've been having nightmares," Ken admitted in a low voice, looking down.

Minomon blinked, looking both confused and worried. "But… I thought that those nightmares had stopped," he said. "You'd been getting better, Ken."

"I know," the boy sighed. "But they've returned, and they're even worse than before. I feel awful for all I've done. For the terrible way I treated you while I was the Digimon Emperor."

Minomon looked saddened at the despair in his friend's voice. "But, Ken, I've already forgiven you," the little digimon protested.

"I know." Ken tried to smile at his closest friend, but it was a poor attempt. He gave a soft sigh, and slipped his arm around Minomon, drawing the little digimon closer to him. "You went through so much for me because you believed it was possible for me to change. You were always at my side, no matter what I did to you. There's only ever been one digimon for me, and that has always been _you_, Minomon. You're my best friend, and I love you so much."

"I love you too, Ken," Minomon replied. The little digimon snuggled even closer to Ken, happy to have the boy's complete attention without having to suffer at the Digimon Emperor's hands.

Ken pulled Minomon onto his lap, his arms tight around the little digimon, drawing strength from the creature who had always loved him.

Ken had certainly thought about taking his own life. If he had thought it would atone even a little for what he had done as the Digimon Emperor, he would have done so without hesitation. But he knew what that would do to his parents, not to mention his digimon. Besides, he did not believe that he deserved such a merciful punishment as death. No, his punishment was to live with everything he had done, and probably never be able to atone for it.

"Ken?" Minomon spoke up suddenly.

Ken blinked, and looked down at the small digimon. "Yes, my friend?" He felt faintly worried. Minomon sounded hesitant, if not outright nervous, and that worried Ken a great deal.

"Can we… Maybe go to the park tomorrow?" Minomon asked.

Ken smiled. "Minomon, that's a great idea," he said warmly. "I don't have school tomorrow, it's Saturday, so we can get ice creams and sit together in the park." _It will also give me more time to pay attention to Minomon,_ the boy added silently to himself. _It should give me a chance to strengthen my relationship with Minomon, and perhaps help him to lose the faint flashes of nervousness I can sometimes see when we talk to each other._

Feeling just a bit better, Ken held Minomon even closer to himself, and lay back down again, his digimon pressed against his chest, right over his heart. Within moments, he had fallen into a fitful sleep.

* * *

"Mom, I'm going to go to the park, if that's all right," Ken said, standing in the doorway to his bedroom. He held Minomon pressed tightly against his back, not really ready to admit the existence of the Digital World to his parents just then. After all, he wasn't really sure if they would believe him or not.

Ken's mother glanced up from the television programme she was watching, and looked at her son. "Of course if you want to, Ken," she said. There was a faint flash of nervousness, almost fear, in her eyes. Ken could understand why. His mother would still be worried that Ken would just disappear without any word again.

"I'll be all right," Ken hastened to reassure his mother. "I'll be back by lunchtime, and I'll call to let you know if anything happens or if I happen to be delayed in any way."

"All right," Ken's mother smiled. "Just make sure you're back in time for lunch, all right?"

"Of course," Ken replied. He bowed his head to his mother, and then quickly left the apartment, still keeping Minomon well out of sight.

* * *

It wasn't a very long walk to the park. There was also an ice cream van there, so Ken was able to get him and Minomon some ice cream. He then sat down on a bench to one side of the park, with Minomon on his lap.

"This is nice, Ken," the little digimon said, eating his ice cream. He was talking about both things – the ice cream, and also being able to spend time with Ken.

"Yeah, it is," Ken smiled. He felt almost fully relaxed for the first time in a long while, like everything was all right. Being able to relax with his digimon was good. It meant that he could pay more attention to Minomon without having to worry about whether he should join the Digidestined or not. Despite what Davis said, he still didn't think that he deserved to be one of them. His darkness would just corrupt them even more. He was more likely to hinder them than help them.

"Ken, someone's coming," Minomon said suddenly. The little digimon went still, forgetting that he was holding an ice cream.

The someone was a young girl approaching them. She had long black hair, and was studying the ground.

The girl raised her head as she got closer to Ken, and the boy genius found himself looking into brown eyes. The girl's gaze slid over him, and Ken got the uncomfortable feeling that she was sizing him up. She wasn't someone he really recognised. Then again, it wasn't like he knew everyone in Tokyo.

"Hello," the girl said with a smile that didn't show in her eyes.

Ken nodded politely. "Hello," he responded. Almost unconsciously, his arms tightened around Minomon. The little digimon didn't protest, giving all the appearance of a small, cuddly toy.

A toy holding an ice cream that was going to start melting soon.

"You're that boy genius, aren't you?" the girl questioned. "Ken Ichijouji, right?"

"That's right," Ken confirmed. While he had been the Digimon Emperor, he might have enjoyed the fame that being a boy genius brought. Now, though, it just depressed him.

"My name's Tessa," the girl said, watching him closely. Her gaze slid to Minomon, then back to Ken again. There was open curiousity on her face.

Ken didn't want to talk to _anyone_, especially not someone who seemed to only want to talk to him because he was famous.

"It's nice to meet you," Ken said politely, meaning the opposite.

Tessa gave a small smile. "I guess you get a lot of people coming over to you because you're famous," she commented.

Ken nodded, but didn't say anything more, hoping that Tessa would get the hint and leave.

Apparently not noticing the hint or choosing to ignore it, Tessa remained where she was. At least she didn't sit down next to Ken. He could already feel the tension in Minomon's little body from having to keep still in one position. Sooner or later, he would move, and that would give away the fact that he was a living creature.

Tessa glanced at the watch she was wearing, her brow furrowed in a frown. "I'm going to have to go now," she said. "I'm due… back home. Maybe I'll see you around sometime?"

"Yeah, maybe," Ken echoed. He watched as Tessa carried on walking, making her way out of the park.

As soon as she was gone, Minomon relaxed. Ken, realising that he was still holding Minomon tightly, loosened his hold on the little digimon.

"Are you all right?" Ken asked his friend.

Minomon nodded, and snuggled closer to Ken. As long as he could be with his partner, his friend, he would be better than all right.

* * *

Minomon was asleep when Ken came into his bedroom after eating dinner with his parents.

The former Kaiser just stood there for a moment, watching his sleeping partner. Their outing in the park hadn't really helped Ken's feelings. He still felt terrible for what he had done as the Digimon Emperor.

_I don't deserve him,_ Ken thought. _His forgiveness _or_ his love. He tried to warn me that I was awakening forces I couldn't control when I was creating Kimeramon. He continually stayed loyally by my side, always hoping that I would start treating him with kindness again, and how did I repay him?_

_I neglected him. And when I _did_ pay attention to him, it was only to beat him._

Ken felt his eyes well up with tears. He slumped onto the chair in his room, his legs no longer able to hold him up, and put his head in his hands.

Why? Why had he continually harmed the one creature who had remained loyal to him all the time? Why hadn't he seen the truth about the Digital World? Why had he ever created those awful dark rings to control the digimon, and the control spires which prevented them from digivolving?

Ken's shoulders shook with the force of his sobs, though he tried hard to keep quiet so that he didn't wake Minomon. He didn't deserve forgiveness. He deserved death. But then, death would be the easy way out. He didn't deserve that, either. He deserved to suffer.

"Ken? What's wrong?"

Ken was pulled out of his crying by the worried voice of his digimon. He raised his head to meet Minomon's concerned gaze. He wiped his eyes, trying to smile through his tears and failing. "It's nothing. I'm sorry I woke you."

"Ken, don't cry." Minomon slid down the ladder, to be caught by Ken and held tightly against his friend's chest.

Ken said nothing, just brought Minomon up so that the little digimon's head was tucked under his chin. The darkness hovered at the edge of his soul like a snarling beast, and, for the moment, Minomon was all that was keeping it away, more so than his parents.

But what would happen when Minomon was no longer able to protect his partner from the darkness threatening to engulf his soul?


End file.
